I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. All rested and refreshed and ready to take on the world. Ok. Maybe not. But I am back and I must say I missed you all. Fortunately I was able to think of you as I ventured everywhere possible to find only the best refrigerator magnets, t-shirts, sno-globes, and key chains for each and every one of you. I trust that you’ve all received your virtual souvenirs and are falling over yourselves with praise for my good taste.

Onward. One of you, this very day, will become my 10,000th visitor. This means nothing to those of you whose stats far exceed my meager numbers. But it ROCKS for me. Because I truly never thought I’d hang in this long. Or that people would hang in there with me. And as I approach my one-year blogoversary, I’m happy to say that it’s been a helluva ride. I’ve met so many interesting people from all over the world. I’ve met people that I have more in common with than I could ever have expected. I’ve met people that I now call friends. I’ve met people that have given me a whole new way to view myself and my world. And I mean that. So I thank each of you for being part of this little exercise and staying with me.

Vacation was a blast — only went about 80 miles away, to one of my favorite cities, New Orleans. And I was glad to see that they are picking up the pieces little by little. It will be a long haul for them, though, and I don’t know if it will ever be the same. But we had a wonderful time, eating and drinking way too much, and taking it all in. I’ll fill you in over the next few days, but for now, I gotta work. Crappy thing about vacation is that you have to come back.

But it’s nice knowing I have you guys to come back to.